Macron security official filmed hitting protester

PARIS: One of President Emmanuel Macron’s top security officers was at the centre of a potentially damaging scandal for the French leader on Thursday after being filmed hitting a protester.

Le Monde newspaper published a video showing Alexandre Benalla striking and then stamping on a young man while wearing a police visor during a demonstration in central Paris on May 1.Benalla, who is not a policeman and previously worked as a bodyguard, had been given permission to “observe police operations” in central Paris during a day off on the May 1 public holiday, Macron’s office said.

The presidential palace added that Benalla had been suspended for two weeks after the incident came to light and had been transferred out of his job, which was organising security for Macron’s trips.“This sanction was to punish unacceptable behaviour and it was a final warning before being sacked,” presidential spokesman Bruno Roger-Petit told reporters.